Svedka Ad: Sexy Female Robots

Larry H., from over at The Daily Mirror, sent these Svedka ads along. They have weird sexualized female robots in them.

I don't know what this even means:




I wonder if Tom Cruise knows about this one:



This fembot's boobs are rather drastically out of proportion to the rest of her body:

Thanks, Larry!

1908 Schlitz Ad: Beer Is Good for You!

This ad is from April, 1908:


Beer as a healthy tonic--I'm surprised beer companies haven't returned to this, now that we're obsessed with whole grains again. Apparently they also used to call Schlitz "liquid bread."

Thanks to Larry H. at the Los Angeles Times Daily Mirror blog!

Bud Lite X-Ray Vision Ad

In this ad for Bud Lite, we see a reversal of the usual gender pattern--in this case, a woman has x-ray vision and uses it to imagine what men look like under their clothes. When a chubby man appears and she sees his body under his clothes, she's disgusted and looks away.



An interesting example of men's bodies under scrutiny.

What Do You Think?

A reader saw this ad in Cosmo. Word on the street is that it is meant to look like a vulva.



Thanks aa bb!

Also in suggestive of sex (as if our 113 posts under the label "sex" doesn't count): not just a parking break and more not-so-subliminal sex.

.

A Metaphor For Gender Relations

Our reader, Elizabeth A., drew our attention to this ad and she does a great job of describing what, exactly, is so disturbing about it:

The sexism at work here is nothing new. It's just your tired, old, run-of-the-mill objectification of women as inanimate objects [robots] whose sole purpose is to sacrifice their own desires so that they may cater to the tastes [for draught keg contents] of the implied male viewer. In fact, the image in the commercial of a woman emptying herself for a man while keeping a constant smile is actually a disturbing reification of many women's experience. Socialized to abnegate themselves, women may try and try to please other people, draining themselves of energy, until they are as empty as used beer cans. While the images used here are distractingly sexy, the underlying message is a terrifying turn-off, yet another example of how Heineken's execs underestimate their target audience [hey, hetero men, you don't want female companionship, just a fembot-like servitor!], insult women and leave everyone feeling demoralized and worse for wear.

More from Elizabeth at her blog: Blog of Stench.

Absolut Vodka Mexican Ad Sparks Controversy in U.S.

This Absolut vodka ad (found here), which ran in Mexico, has caused quite the stir here in the U.S., since it implies than in a perfect world much of the U.S. would still be part of Mexico. A number of groups in the U.S. are boycotting Absolut. This is one of those cases where an ad aimed at once audience (Mexicans) is noticed by another audience it was never meant for.

Similarly, though I could be wrong, I bet most straight male Miller Light drinkers aren't aware of these ads and wouldn't be thrilled with them.

I Think I Should Be Disgusted, But Instead I'm Just Bored

Thanks to Alicia T. for sending us the link!

UPDATE: According to Tim at Ad Freak, the model in this photograph, ex-Miss Universe contestant Erin McNaught, was not pleased with the copy added to her image. Tim wrote:

[She said:] “I wasn’t thrilled with what that line was implying,” she says. The vineyard has stopped short of apologizing, saying it e-mailed all of the campaign’s lines to McNaught—and never heard back. McNaught says she was traveling and didn’t see the e-mails until it was too late. “You know, she is a bit of a cheeky thing,” says a Cockatoo rep. “But we certainly did not want to harm her image or ours.”

See the news story here.

Miller Lite Ads Aimed at GLBT Community

I found these two Miller Lite ads in QVegas, a magazine aimed at the GLBT community.

It would be interesting to pair with these ads for Skyy vodka to illustrate how companies make different ads to target different audiences. If you find an ad offensive or dumb, it's not necessarily an ineffective ad, it's that you probably aren't the target consumer and it's not supposed to appeal to you.

Not That It's Surprising That Vegas Bars Use Women's Bodies in Ads...

Another from Las Vegas Living, for a bar in the Green Valley Ranch casino.

How Advertisers Tailor Messages

Since most of us only consume the media aimed, more or less, at us, we rarely see how the same product is often marketed very differently to different audiences. These two ads (found here) are for the "general market" and the gay male market respectively. They tell a story about how the advertisers perceive straight and gay masculinities.

Text: "When you walk into a bar, you're on stage. Good luck."

Text: "It's a bar, not a catwalk. Good luck."

Selling Authenticity: Stoli Vodka Ad

I found this in Rolling Stone.

"The Orchid Of Beer"

These images are of a beer marketed specifically to women in 1953, Storzette by Storz.



From the website:

"In 1953 Storz tried to market a new product for women, 'Storzette.' Designed to be a beer for the ladies it was supposedly not too bitter and was calorie controlled. it also came in a smaller can, 8 ounces, which Storz called "Queen sized" and it came in four can packs called "Princess Packs." The brewery noted that market studies showed that many women felt that the standard 12 oz can provided too large a serving. The beer inside was also different, made to be less bitter than standard beers. The can even had a pink orchid pictured on it to help it appeal to women. It's initial test market results in San Diego seemed positive, but in the end the effort was not successful and Storzette did not last long on the market. As a result, the little can with the orchid is very scarce. Storz also used a slogan on its regular cans for awhile in the 1950s, "the Orchid of Beer" which has to be one of the more unusual beer advertising slogans."

Alcohol Consumption

Past Month Alcohol Use by Ethnicity: Ages 26 or Older

From the National Institute of Health (here).

Liquor Ad: Image of Hegemonic Masculinity

I couldn't get my scanner to quite scan the entire thing--it's an ad from Rolling Stone, which has really wide pages--but here's the ad copy:

YOUR DAD WAS NOT A METROSEXUAL. H didn't do pilates. Moisturize. Or drink pink cocktails. Your Dad drank whisky cocktails. Made with Canadian Club. Served in a rocks glass. They tasted good. They were effortless. DAMN RIGHT YOUR DAD DRANK IT.

And the main picture is of three men going fishing.

Women's Bodies Used to Sell Alcohol! Unheard Of!

Ad for St.Pauli's Girl beer.

Race And Sexuality

This billboard draws on the stereotype that Latinas are always hot and spicy:

What Men Shouldn't Do

Click here for a slideshow off all the alcoholic drinks a man "shouldn't" order and an explanation for why.

Illustrates quite nicely how severely men are restricted by the privileging of masculinity over femininity (men eschew femininity at all costs, women can do masculinity without much opprobrium, as long as they do a little femm too).

Booze = Sex

On the back it says "Formulated to turn 21 to 35 year olds into drunken, energized, sex freaks. --BottleWatch"

The back also has a silhouette of a woman holding a can of Four.

Maxim Vs. Cosmo

Take a careful look at these two images (you may need to download them to see it). The first is from Cosmo, the second from Maxim. There is one incredibly subtle and important difference: the latter shows a nipple and the former does not. I'll let you guess which one is in Playboy. This is a great example of how carefully advertisers are planning their images according to their audiences.